Narrative Photography: Telling Stories with Your Camera

Dates: January 21 and 28, from 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Instructor: Ellen Bishop

Format: Zoom

$75 – Regular Admission
$60 – High School Students (20% discount)

We often think that the best visual story-telling is a video camera (or a cell phone). But still photography has long been, and remains, a very important part of story-telling.

A single image can capture and preserve instantaneous expressions and positions for us to examine and contemplate. The images are spontaneous and unposed.

Narrative photography captures a question or expression, and invites the viewer to wonder the world of possible answers. The viewer of a narrative image participates in understanding and interpreting the story, like any good written work, great examples include Dorothea Lange’s Immigrant Mother image, and Steve McCurry’s Afghan Girl. We are all capable of capturing such telling moments.

Your camera or cell phone is a great way to tell stories of your family, of an outing, of the joys (and challenges) of dog ownership, and so many other things.

A single image can tell a powerful, emotive, or even humorous story. Photographers can also use a series of images to tell a tale with lasting impact.

This workshop will focus on capturing telling, emotive images that individually or together invite the viewer into a story.

The first Zoom meeting will explore narrative photography, from to Dorothea Land to some of the best of current photojournalists through discussion as well as presentation. During the first class you’ll be asked to develop a story-telling project that you may work on and discuss as part of the second class if you wish. Both classes will include suggestions for techniques, camera settings, and some post-processing hints to make your photos look their very best and most amazing.

Must pre-register below by Jan. 17.